


From point C to point A

by Astronomally



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 19:37:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14755010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astronomally/pseuds/Astronomally
Summary: A re-telling of Gaius’ and Robins supports C through A.





	From point C to point A

He’s not quite sure when he started seeing her differently. One day she was plain ol’ Robin the Tactician and the next, someone else entirely; someone worth a passing glance or, if he was in a particularly good mood, a cheerful “Good mornin’”. He even found himself offering her a bonbon during one such exchange, something he almost never did no matter who the recipient should be, and she had accepted his out-of-the-blue offering with a friendly smile and polite “Thank you”. As she turned to continue on down the castle corridor, he watched with furrowed brow when she popped the chocolaty mound into her mouth and all he could think about was why would he give away the last of his bonbons? Their brief moment of hello had been an ordinary, fleeting one so why would he do that? Now, he had to go all the way into Yllistol to restock his dwindled bonbon supply and all because he just had to be nice to her. With a grumble, he turned on his heel and went on his way, a little less cheerful than when he had started his day and his mind suddenly occupied with resounding thoughts of her.

...

Perhaps it all began when she had unceremoniously walked in on him. Gaius had never been one to feel shame but when a rather cute girl mistakenly barges in to the men’s bathroom and catches you in nothing but your small-clothes? Well, even someone as cool as he would feel just a tiny bit hot under the (non-existent)collar by being found in such a vulnerable state. But nothing came even close to the embarrassment that she must’ve(obviously) felt. Her eyes had widened to the size of saucers and her porcelain skin reddened to a hue he had never seen before. After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, Gaius cleared his throat but all he could think to say was a lazy “I guess we can share”, indicating the full bubble bath with a slight wave of his hand.

“Gaius! I-I’m so sorry!” she finally managed to stammer out. With a twirl of her coat, she clumsily hurried for the exit and Gaius could’ve sworn he heard her squeak something about this always happening to her.

Gaius shrugged. Robin may have gotten an unintended eyeful but at least he had saved them both the extreme displeasure of her seeing him in the buff by remaining in his shorts until the very last second. Even if he hadn’t, he doubts it would’ve affected him much. After-all, this wasn’t the first time he had been caught almost naked by an attractive woman. Maybe if either of them looked like a donkey then he might feel somewhat humiliated... As if to confirm his appearance, he glimpses his reflection in the standing mirror next to the bathtub and is miffed to see his washboard abs aren’t very washboard-like. He blames his being out of shape on the blasted war hanging over them all and the stress it’s been putting on him. Oh well, a little extra climbing and jumping between buildings oughta do the trick.  
But as he hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his shorts he notices a certain bandana is vacant from his forearm, leaving a small but noticeable tattoo in plain sight.

“Crap...” was all he could say.

...

Now that he really thought about it, it probably happened somewhere in the midst of him trying to please her. 

After their little bubble bath mishap, Robin had approached him with an apology for having intruded on him so rudely. Her cheeks were stained pink but not quite as vibrantly as he had seen before and she was having trouble looking him straight in the eye(it was then Gaius was suddenly struck by what a wonderful shade of blue her own eyes were).

“I’m very sorry, Gaius. I honestly didn’t mean to catch you like that. This place is so big that I still get confused about which rooms are which.” she explained while wringing her hands in nervousness. 

“Eh, it’s alright, Bubbles. Really, don’t worry about it. At least I had enough sense to keep my small-clothes on, eh?” he chuckles. “If not, then we’d have somethin’ to talk about.”

“I suppose so...wait, did you call me ‘Bubbles’?”

“Seems fitting, right?” he grins foxily down at her and he’s not sure why but she suddenly seems like a fun target for teasing; probably had something to do with how visibly nervous she was around him. She was always so calm, calculating and well-versed in everything that she said, that seeing her so flustered now felt just a little endearing to him.

“I...uh... Anyways, I couldn’t help but notice a rather peculiar...um, mark...” she finally looks him in the eye and Gaius was surprised to see just a hint of concern in her face. 

“Oh no, you saw that? Look, it’s not what you think, Bubbles. I wasn’t bein’ very careful the other day and fell into some poison oak but I swear that rash on my-“

“Oh Gods, ew, no!” Robin interjects with a scrunch of her nose and her blush deepening. “That’s not...this i-isn’t...I’m talking about the mark on your forearm! The tattoo!” She practically yells the last part at him and he can tell her nerves are pretty much shot at this point. Oh yeah, she’s gonna be fun to play with.

“Oh, that?” he tsks. “You had me worried there for a moment, Bubbles. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be seein’ unsightly things like that.”

If it were possible for her to blush any redder she’d probably turn into a tomato and the thought made Gaius chuckle audibly, which only added to Robins ever-growing embarrassment. She fiddled with her oversized glasses in an attempt to busy her hands and regain some semblance of sanity, unaware that he found her tick absolutely adorable.

“Besides,” he continued. “That tattoo’s nothin’. Just got caught doin’ a favor for a mate is all. No big deal.”

Robin brought a slender hand to her chin as she pondered his words and then “But that particular one is meant to mark convicted criminals... If it weren’t such a big deal then why would you keep it covered?”

Gaius winced. Crafty little thing, she was. And rather annoying the way she took a dig at him like that. It’s not like he was a murderer or anything, not off the battlefield anyways... And Blue seemed to trust him enough to let him join their little gang of do-gooders, so what was her problem? Was she really so embarrassed by their encounters that this was her way of showing him who was really in charge here? Pfft, she was gonna have to do better than that to pull the wool over his eyes.

“Listen, sugar, just because a guy ain’t afraid of the truth doesn’t mean he wants everyone knowin’ his past, alright? Some folks here might not be so accepting of the things he had to do, alright?” He crosses his arms to emphasize his point but that doesn’t stop her from sticking her nose further into his business.

“You mean Maribelle, am I right?”  
Gaius feels as though she had just sucker punched him to the point of stupid, leaving him dumbstruck with a trout-like expression hanging limp on his face.

“It’s fine, Gaius. I’ve already looked into the court proceedings and as far as I’m concerned you’ve paid your dues. I was merely curious as to what you would tell me if I asked about it.”

He can feel his own cheeks beginning to burn this time. She read through the court transcripts? Without his permission? She purposely and defiantly went searching through his delinquent history? A history he didn’t particularly want any one of his new “friends” and employer finding out about? Who the hell did she think she was? Just because some prince gave her an obscene amount of power didn’t give her the right...

Crafty indeed...

Gaius huffs in indignation but before he can say anything else she offers up some words of solace.

“If you’re concerned about it being kept secret though, I promise that I’ll keep it.”  
At least, they would be words of solace if he were anything other than a lying cheat.

“Takes one to know one.” He thinks bitterly to himself as he realizes the magnitude of what she just did to him. And he doesn’t like it one bit. Very few times in his life did he ever get caught but only once did it have any lasting negative effects on him, and every single time he made sure to give them a run for their money. But then here comes along dainty, little Robin, in her messy bun of platinum hair, her comically big glasses and her distinctly Plegian overcoat, and in a matter of minutes has him cornered, likely to the point of no return. The way he saw it, there was only one way out of this royal screwup, which meant she had to be buttered up and her silence bought.

...

It most definitely happened while he was trying to please her.

Robin had insisted that she would keep his secret about being a known criminal, and Gaius insisted that she should still accept his gifts anyways. But no matter what he offered her: money, taking on extra chores, taking on her chores, a puppy, then immediately a kitten when she said no to the puppy, the bits of candy that he was willing to part with... He even entertained the notion of offering her less...virtuous...things, but instantly shut that idea down since he knew she wasn’t like that and he wasn’t as lascivious as he sometimes pretended to be.

It was a real shame, her refusing his presents, considering he was literally giving her all that he had. But that just meant that he would have to try even harder to get his debt to her squared away. If Gaius were to ever give himself credit, he could at least say that he was persistent. 

And it didn’t matter how many times she told him that his secret was safe with her, that his bending over backwards to get her to keep quiet was utterly unnecessary. He believed her, he really did. She always made good on all of her promises but in his line of work there was no such thing as something for nothing. Gaius had met(and worked with) too many two-faced lowlifes for him to just walk away from this mess with optimistic expectations; he had learned early on that it was far better to be safe than to be sorry. Even his compliments seemed to fall on deaf-ears. Sometimes he would find her sitting alone in the castle library, hunched over a table by the window, stacks upon stacks of books forming a sort of fort around her, and he would slide into the chair next to her while draping an arm across her shoulders, always whispering sweet nothings to her ear. 

“Gorgeous day today, amiright? You know what else is gorgeous? Youuu.” He would purr while poking a finger into her cheek. She would blush(which, by now, was customary between them) and swat away his hand as if she were swatting away a highly persistent mosquito. She would even tell him as much.

“You really are a pest, do you know that, Gaius? I’ve already given you my word and why that isn’t enough for you I cannot even begin to fathom.” And with that she would collect her things to vacate the area before he could concoct some other ridiculous venture to get her to agree to his even more ridiculous game. But every time she would chastise him, he would always catch the hint of a smile playing on her lips while she would make her escape.  
For weeks their relationship went on like this. Gaius would seek her out, always with some sort of gift in hand, compliment her in some sweet, sometimes funny, sometimes ludicrously romantic way, she would roll her eyes, call him a pest, then return to whatever menial task she had deemed important. To be honest, this routine of theirs was getting to be frustrating beyond belief. If the silly girl would just accept his sentiments, or better yet, play along and at least act like this whole situation meant something to him, then they could both move on with their lives and never have to darken each other’s doorways again. It was almost hilarious how thick-headed Robin could be sometimes. Either the morals of law and justice that Blue and The Stiff had instilled in her had a lethal hold on her, or she really was just that thick. All she had to do was accept one thing (any thing!) from him and they would be done with each other!

But no, for whatever reasons that he couldn’t even begin to fathom, Robin insisted on playing hard to get. Never before now had he ever met a woman more stubborn than her, and he had met a lot of women. More often than not, they were almost always willing to bend to his will, all starry eyed and high-pitched giggles. Gaius was well aware of the effect he had on girls and although he would never jeopardize a lady’s integrity for his own pleasure, they just made it so damn easy to get what he wanted. But not Bubbles. She was nothing like the girls he was used to. She needed to be chased down and worn out before she would even consider giving in to him, or anyone for that matter. But at the end of the day, sometimes he enjoyed the pursuit more than the payout.

That thought didn’t actually occur to him though until the day she coincidentally appeared at his market stall. He was hawking the usual wares: handmade trinkets, antique jewelry, leather belts and silk scarves, exotic undergarments...when he caught sight of a familiar bun of tousled, snow-white hair. She was ambling her way through the crowded market place, looking just a little lost, and was about to pass by him completely when he suddenly, and without thinking, left his post to reach out and grab her by the arm. He hauled her around to his side of the stall and only let go when she was done protesting once she recognized who it was exactly that pulled her from the crowd.

“You should be more careful out there, Bubbles. We wouldn’t want some dashing rogue snatching you up and running away with you, now would we.” 

“You can’t possibly mean yourself.” She laughs breathily, trying not to look so amused by his antics. Instead, she focuses her attention on the goods he has displayed for potential customers, picking up a small pendant for better examination. 

“I had no idea you ran a market stall. There really isn’t anything that you can’t do, is there?” 

Gaius seemingly basks in the glow of her praise. “Yeah, I’m quite the package deal. Charming, unbelievably handsome, talented and enterprising to boot. You name it, I’ve got it.”

Robin rolls her eyes but doesn’t object to his generous self-analysis. Instead, she purses her lips into a smile and hums in acknowledgment as she turns the pendant over to view the gem in the sunlight. 

One thing that he forgot to mention though was that he was also incredibly perceptive.

“Speaking of...” he says as he reaches for the pendant, taking it by the chain to dangle in front of her. He was pleased to note that the color of the gem was the exact same as her eyes. “See somethin’ you like and it’s yours.”

Robin stared at him for a moment, with an intensity that he had only ever seen when she was drawing up battle plans. But then the intensity died and was replaced with a far-away, somber expression and he could all but predict what her answer was going to be.

“No, I don’t think so.” She lilted quietly before pushing past him to reenter the market street.

Gaius watched in mild annoyance as she retreated back into the crowd. But as she disappeared amongst the townspeople, he didn’t wholly mind that she was making this difficult for him. The more time he spent chasing after her, the more he realized just how much he actually liked pursuing her. Perhaps it was because she wasn’t giving him what he wanted. Or maybe, he just liked being challenged.

...

Or maybe it was simply because of her.

If that were the case then his awareness of her, as a tactician, as a person, as a friend or even as something more...had been there all along, he just had yet to know it clearly. Because he had known many people in his lifetime, all kinds of people from all walks of life. So many people had come and gone and not one of them had left an ever-lasting impression on him. At least, not the kind that he desperately wanted... But that was the crappy thing about life, it never asked you what you wanted, it just handed you whatever it felt like handing you. And that was the thing about Gaius, not many good things were ever handed to him so when something good did come along, such as the night when Blue invited him to join the Shepherds, he took it without a second thought. And then that good thing led to another, and another, until finally he was led to her.

And if there was one god-given thing that he wanted, that he’d be damned if he never achieved, it was her.

When exactly did he start seeing her differently? He honestly couldn’t say...  
As far as buying her silence, Gaius had more or less chucked that plan into the wastebasket. Weeks of conniving cleverness just led him in circles around her and she would just stand there, watching all the while as he made a fool of himself. And worst of all, he had done it to himself. Robin never asked him to do the ridiculous things that he had done. Whatever game he thought he could get her to play had actually been playing him. Because now here he was, doubled over a work bench, carefully and delicately laying small stones into a handcrafted pendant, not unlike the one she had marveled at in his market stall just a few days ago. While he couldn’t afford a real sapphire like the one he still had yet to sell(she had refused that particular pendant anyways), he hoped she wouldn’t say no to something that he had made with his own hands. It certainly wasn’t as fancy as the one he tried to give her but sentimental value was priceless and she was definitely the kind of person to at least appreciate that.

If she didn’t then he supposes he would just have one more thing to chuck in the wastebasket.

Gaius found her yet again in the castle library, curled up in her favorite spot by the enormous bay window. She was writing in something, a journal by the looks of it, her pen scratching along across the pages so quickly that she didn’t even look up. He willed himself to breathe slowly and to move calmly but as he stepped forward, his anxiousness got the better of him and he knocked into one of the many wooden tables, jutting it from its place on the rug and sending a stack of books crashing to the floor, exacerbating his already nervous heart.

“Son of a-“ he cursed under his breath as he clenched his throbbing knee in his hands. The commotion startled Robin from her silent thoughts.

“Gaius? Oh my, are you alright?” Her voice was laced with concern as she jumped up from her perch to hurry over to him, taking him by his elbow and wrist to lead him back to the window seat.

“Yeah, I’m fine...” he growled, his knee not feeling very fine at all, but the pain was dulling to a slight ache and he supposes that the concern she held for him was almost worth it. “That table wasn’t there a minute ago.” Typical Gaius, always trying to play it off.

Robin tuts and smiles sweetly. “I think that table has always been there, Gaius. But if it makes you feel any better, it has been behaving pretty mischievously lately, it might have it out for you.”

Gaius chuckles and can feel the burn in his cheeks as his heart races faster. If only she knew what she did to him...

“Look at you, Bubbles, making jokes... I wasn’t sure you even knew what a joke was.”

“I have my moments.” The smile she gives him is so pleasantly assuring that it takes everything in him not to confess right then and there. He even forces himself to look away from her to prevent any ill-timed declarations of love, especially since he had no idea how she felt about him. Gaius had been playing the fool far too often lately for him to be alright if she were to reject him. Instead, he reaches into the folds of his cloak and reveals the pendant he had made for her, a smirk belying his lack of confidence.

“What’s this?” She asks, cupping her hands as he lowers it gently into her palms.

“Look familiar? Come on, doll, I know you know what it is.” Gaius nearly bites his tongue at the use of the pet name but he had been using all kinds of pet names for her as of late that he couldn’t stop himself if he tried. 

“It looks like the pendant from the other day,” she responds, turning it over in her hands to let the sunlight sparkle through it. She doesn’t even flinch at the term of endearment. If anything, her lack of reaction to his nicknaming habits only spurred him to call her other, sweeter more intimate things. So really, this whole mess of ‘feelings’ kind of was her fault... 

“But clearly it’s not... It is very beautiful though. The craftsman deserves the highest praise.” Thus, ending her examination of the necklace and extending her reach to give it back to him.  
With a shake of his head, Gaius folds his hand around hers to close her fingers over the pendant, her blue eyes squinting in confusion.

“Naw, it’s for you, Bubbles. Since you refused the other one I thought you might like this one instead. And...I’m the one who made it.”

If only he had some sort of device that could capture the look on her face right about now.

“YOU made this?” Her eyes had widened so much so that he was sure he could make out every little fleck of pigment that colored them his favorite shade of blue. He actually had to will himself to blink before she would accuse him of staring, it was just so hard not to though sometimes...

“But Gaius, my gods, this is...exquisite! I had no idea you could... This must have taken ages! It’s even more fine than the other one!” She paused in her praise for a moment to smile the most genuine smile she had ever given him. “You really do keep finding ways to surprise me.”

If Gaius didn’t feel like exploding from emotional overload before, then now he most definitely would. The way his heart was pounding had him worried that maybe she would hear it. If she could, would she comprehend why? Would she even care? He wonders if there was ever a moment in the course of their knowing each other where he made her heart race without him being any the wiser. And he doesn’t mean all of the times he had embarrassed her. If he could just summon the courage to ask, or to tell her how he really felt, then he wouldn’t have to wonder any longer.

But if there was one other thing that Gaius could claim that he was, it was cowardly.

“Yeah, well...just felt like making somethin’, I guess. And you came to mind so that’s why it’s for you...and it’s not a bribe!” He quickly adds in when she opens her mouth to protest his extravagant gift. “If you haven’t told anyone about...my past...by now, then I guess it’s safe to say you won’t. Besides, I’ve kinda given up on that. You’re not an easy woman to persuade.” 

Robin laughs and it sounds just like sweet music to him, a sound that has him falling even more in love with her every time he hears it. Perhaps that is why he was always behaving foolishly for her...

“Well,” Robin begins, her pink lips spreading into the loveliest smile yet, her blue eyes bright behind her long lashes and big glasses, and strands of snow-white hair framing her pretty face, “In that case, I accept. Thank you, Gaius. I’m very lucky to have you.”

You have no idea...

“Anything for you, Bubbles.” He smiles back, hoping it conveys every feeling he has for her. “Anything at all.”


End file.
